Binti – Nnedi Okorafor

Blurb:
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.

My Thoughts:
This novella follows Binti as she leaves her home for the very first time, the first person to leave her home ever, and travels to university on a planet very far away.

Binti is very intelligent and is a master harmonize like her father, meaning she can make all sorts of mathematical equations work in her head.

I really enjoyed this novella, but I do feel like it could have had a bit more detail in it but that is just picking at straws. There were times when I felt a bit confused as to how things look, but I definitely appreciate Okorafors work that went into this.

I really like Binti as a character and can understand how difficult it is to leave behind your family in order to get a higher education. Okorafor has done an amazing job at describing how Binti felt when she felt her identity was fading.

I also really love the friendship Binti and Okwu gained, being so different but having a bond that no one else understands.